An electronic bolus is a device inserted into a subject in order to monitor one or more parameters typically indicative of the health and condition of the subject and provide a means of unique identification. Various forms of electronic boluses have been proposed in the art. Most include several sensors while some only provide identification. Others include only one specific sensor and are limited in the amount of information that can be ascertained. Some have sensors disposed on the outside of the bolus. Examples of different bolus devices are found in U.S. Published Patent Application Nos. 2009/0187392 and 2007/0088194; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,059,733.
Acute outbreaks of disease continually threaten cattle, buffalo, sheep, pigs and other farm animals. Such outbreaks have caused substantial economic losses globally. For example, outbreaks of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (commonly known as mad cow disease) in the UK necessitated the slaughter of 3.3 million cattle with an estimated loss of over $7.2 B. A mad cow outbreak in the U.S. accounted for an annual loss of $2 B in beef exports. Similarly, a swine foot and mouth disease in Taiwan caused the destruction of over 3.8 million pigs and an estimated loss of $6.9 B.
Rapid and accurate diagnosis of disease in livestock is an important component of a comprehensive animal health program. Disease diagnosis in animals is often based on a combination of clinical signs and subsequent testing. Utilizing current methods, case definition is often subjective and confirmatory diagnostic test results are unavailable in real-time, if at all.
In an outbreak of a highly contagious disease, the ability to rapidly and accurately identify clinically ill animals is an important control point for mitigating disease transmission. Advances in electronics and wireless technologies have created bolus systems for monitoring discrete parameters such as temperature, heartbeat rate and respiration rate in livestock. The ability to remotely monitor animal wellness, condition and diagnose disease would provide a valuable surveillance method for the livestock industry.
Physiologic parameters in animals have been monitored as indications of well-being. The common parameters of temperature, heart rate and respiratory rate are often used to distinguish clinical illness. Most commonly, these are utilized as a reading at a single time point and not as a continuous data stream (or signal). Continuous monitoring of these physiologic variables would provide insight into the disease process and allow for early discrimination of clinical illness. A system that continuously samples physiologic parameters in animals and uses these samples to diagnose disease and condition, and then reports such disease remotely would be of great value.
Some proposed bolus systems are often complex, unreliable, and expensive. When each animal in a herd of thousands of animals is to be equipped with a bolus, each bolus cannot be unduly expensive.